Picker guide for looms



1954 E. J. BULLARD 2,696,842

PICKER GUIDE FOR LOOMS Filed Feb. 29. 1952 INVENTOR. EDWARD J. BULLARD Fig. 4 BY ATTORNEYS United States Patent PICKER GUIDE FOR LOOMS Edward J. Bullard, Pomfret, Conn., assignor to The Bullard Clark Company, Danielson, Conm, a corporation of Connecticut Application February 29, 1952, Serial No. 274,132

1 Claim. (Cl. 139158) This invention relates to looms and comprises an improved picker guide for facilitating the shuttle driving operation of looms and eliminating various objectionable features heretofore present.

Looms in present use have employed a shuttle driving picker mounted on a steel rod which guides the picker thereon and therealong in its straight line movement under the actuation of the picker stick. The heavy and rapid thrust action of the picker stick and picker-on the hard and solid rod, together with the frictional resistance of the rod against movement of the picker, has resulted in excessive heating of the rod and wearing of the picker, undue and non-uniform power requirement and excessive vibration. These and other objections are relieved in some degree by lubricating the rod but, due to machine vibrations and proximity of the rod to the fabric, the lubricant is inclined to splash onto and ruin the fabric. My invention contemplates a new and improved picker guide which eliminates these objections.

In its preferred form the improved guide of my invention comprises a sleeve of plastic composition mounted on or enclosing a steel rod and forming a non-metallic guiding surface for the picker. A plastic sleeve of this character requires no lubricant and offers such minimum resistance to movement of the picker thereon that heating and wearing are substantially eliminated. It also provides a resilient support for the picker that absorbs shocks and reduces vibrations to a minimum, reduces power requirement to a minimum, and provides a uniformity of operation heretofore unknown.

These and other features of the invention will be best understood and appreciated from the following description of a preferred embodiment thereof selected for purposes of illustration and shown in the accompanying drawing in which:

Fig. 1 is a fragmentary view in side elevation of a picker stick assembly embodying my invention,

Fig. 2 is an enlarged fragmentary plan view of the picker,

Fig. 3 is an enlarged fragmentary view taken on line 33 of Fig. l, and

Fig. 4 is an enlarged cross section taken on line 4-4 of Fig. 1.

In the drawing, indicates a picker stick of usual construction anchored at its bottom end for pivotal movement to the positions shown in broken lines in Fig. l. A picker guide 12 mounted horizontally in the loom includes a steel rod 14 supported at its ends 15 and 16 in the loom frame and having a sleeve 18 of plastic material fast thereon between the end supports. A picker 20 of suitable material has a longitudinal bore or passage to receive its guide and is slidably mounted on the sleeve. It has an opening 22 therein receiving the picker stick 10. The picker is provided with a bunter 24 for engaging and driving a shuttle in the loom. The picker stick is oscillated, being swung to the right (Fig. 1) in the usual manner by mechanism including a strap 26.

The picker 20 is constructed of suitable fabric and moldable plastic composition bonded together into a unitary block and presents a tubular plastic or plasticfilled fabric bearing surface within its bore. I have discovered that the guide sleeve 18 of plastic material so cooperates with such a picker that numerous advantages result. The plastic material of the sleeve provides a resilient and yielding support for the picker in operation whereas metal presents a hard and unyielding surface against which the picker tends to pound with disasterous results. The picker rides on the plastic surface with a minimum of friction, wear and heating, Whereas the hard metal rod has heretofore presented a frictional resistance causing the rod to become hot and the picker to become worn, all of which factors finally result in excessive power requirement and a considerable lack of uniformity in both power requirement and picker motion. The plastic material of the sleeve also has a damping effect that eliminates resonant vibrations in the steel rod and reduces wear. It will be understood that the picker thrusts by the picker stick are powerful and rapid and the cushioning of these thrusts together with the resulting minimum friction provides smoother operation and a resulting reduction in vibration and Wear. The plastic sleeve furthermore requires no lubrication, thus eliminating fabric damage heretofore caused by splash from the lubricated rod.

The plastic sleeve may be a phenolic resin bonded or saturated paper base laminate, or a cloth base laminate, or a wood laminate. The sleeve may also be formed of a nylon laminate or a straight nylon extrusion as well as fibre as a basic material. These sleeves can also be graphite impregnated if such treatment is found desirable. In any case the plastic sleeve is formed to fit snugly upon the steel rod for its entire length between the supported ends thereof and to present a smooth and uniform non-metallic surface having a low coefficient of friction. The sleeve is secured by cement or by any other means to the surface of the steel rod and by the union of these two dissimilar materials of different densities resonance and vibration of the composite guide is damped and reduced to a minimum.

Having thus disclosed my invention what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

A composite vibration-damping picker guide comprising a horizontal steel rod fixedly supported at its opposite ends and having a sleeve of plastic composition secured thereto in enclosing concentric relation, extending continuously between the supported ends of the rod and presenting a smooth, non-metallic surface, the said sleeve being adapted to guide a tubular picker thereon for reciprocatory movement with a minimum of friction, and the union of dissimilar materials of the picker guide reducing its resonant vibration to a minimum in use.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 420,951 Millhauser Feb. 11, 1890 1,397,475 West Nov. 15, 1921 1,756,205 Merrick Apr. 29, 1930 2,326,833 Camp Aug. 17, 1943 2,343,585 Schott Mar. 7, 1944 2,437,342 Bacon Mar. 9, 1948 2,487,780 Bacon Nov. 15, 1949 2,585,435 Chadbourne Feb. 12, 1952 

